Security and data handling changedgovernment/security/security-and-data-handling
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Upstream edited this page at 20 Oct 2026 16:44 UTC, give or take a minute or two: the time comes from Anthropic’s own sitemap rather than from a commit. This site recorded the change at 20 Oct 2026 17:07 UTC.
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2020 </Accordion>
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2222 <Accordion title="What can shell commands in the sandbox reach?">
23 Shell commands that Claude runs in the sandbox work on the folders the user has attached, a scratch area, and read-only reference material bundled by the application (such as skill and plugin directories). Shell commands cannot work on the rest of the user's files. Claude's file-read and file-write tools are limited to those same locations and to the session's own working folder, and they cannot read or write the rest of the user's files unless the user adds another folder. In Cowork, Claude can ask the user to add a specific folder during the session, and the user approves or declines that request; see [Approvals and Auto mode](#approvals-and-auto-mode). Administrators can restrict which local folders users may attach with **Allowed workspace folders** on the [Config](/docs/government/config/settings#allowed-workspace-folders) page. The desktop client then refuses folders outside that list in the workspace picker, in requests Claude makes during a session, and in Claude's file tools. See [Desktop and filesystem access](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/local-access) for how folder scoping is enforced.
23 Shell commands that Claude runs in the sandbox work on the folders the user has attached, a scratch area, and read-only reference material bundled by the application (such as skill and plugin directories). Shell commands cannot work on the rest of the user's files. In Cowork, Claude can ask the user to add a specific folder during the session, and the user approves or declines that request; see [Approvals and Auto mode](#approvals-and-auto-mode). Administrators can restrict which local folders users may attach with **Allowed workspace folders** on the [Config](/docs/government/config/settings#allowed-workspace-folders) page. The desktop client then refuses folders outside that list in the workspace picker, in requests Claude makes during a session, and in Claude's file tools. In Cowork, Claude's file tools may read and write in the listed folders. See [Desktop and filesystem access](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/local-access) for how folder scoping is enforced.
2424 </Accordion>
2525
2626 <Accordion title="How are attached folders made available to the sandbox?">
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101101
102102### Approvals and Auto mode
103103
104By default, Claude for Government prompts the user for connector actions, for each web search, and, in Cowork, when Claude asks to add another folder to the session. In Chat and Cowork, Claude's file tools do not write outside the attached folders and the session's working folder, as described under [Sandbox and isolation](#sandbox-and-isolation). In Cowork, shell commands run without a prompt because they run inside the sandbox virtual machine. Web page fetches run without a prompt in both Chat and Cowork and are checked against the egress allowlist described above. Administrators can require a prompt on every shell command or fetch with the **Require approval for each command** and **Require approval for each fetch** sub-settings on the [Config](/docs/government/config/settings#tool-and-connector-cards) page. In Chat on Claude Desktop versions earlier than 2.110.0, every shell command prompts regardless. By default, members cannot switch to Auto mode. When an administrator sets the **Auto mode** setting to **Allowed** on the [Config](/docs/government/config/settings#bypass-permissions-mode-and-auto-mode) page, Claude Desktop offers it in Cowork and in Code sessions, and members can switch the Claude Code command-line tool to it. New Code sessions in Claude Desktop 2.9939.2 or later and new interactive sessions in the Claude Code command-line tool 2.1.283 or later then start in it on models that support Auto mode, unless another mode is chosen. Cowork does not offer a bypass-permissions mode.
104By default, Claude for Government prompts the user for connector actions, for each web search, and, in Cowork, when Claude asks to add another folder to the session. In Chat and Cowork, Claude's file tools do not write outside the attached folders, the session's working folder, [memory](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#memory), and the folders listed in [**Allowed workspace folders**](/docs/government/config/settings#allowed-workspace-folders). In Cowork, shell commands run without a prompt because they run inside the sandbox virtual machine. Web page fetches run without a prompt in both Chat and Cowork and are checked against the [egress allowlist](#network-egress-required-domains-and-proxies). Administrators can require a prompt on every shell command or fetch with the **Require approval for each command** and **Require approval for each fetch** sub-settings on the [Config](/docs/government/config/settings#tool-and-connector-cards) page. In Chat on Claude Desktop versions earlier than 2.110.0, every shell command prompts regardless. By default, members cannot switch to Auto mode. When an administrator sets the **Auto mode** setting to **Allowed** on the [Config](/docs/government/config/settings#bypass-permissions-mode-and-auto-mode) page, Claude Desktop offers it in Cowork and in Code sessions, and members can switch the Claude Code command-line tool to it. New Code sessions in Claude Desktop 2.9939.2 or later and new interactive sessions in the Claude Code command-line tool 2.1.283 or later then start in it on models that support Auto mode, unless another mode is chosen. Cowork does not offer a bypass-permissions mode.
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107107 <Accordion title="Can write and send actions be gated behind approval?">
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207207 <Accordion title="Are projects available in both Chat and Cowork?">
208 Yes. Chat and Cowork share one list of projects, and users can start a Chat conversation or a Cowork session inside a project. A project in Claude for Government is stored only on the user's device. There is no service-side project store, and projects are not shared between users. A Chat conversation inside a project does not gain access to the project's folders, while Cowork sessions in a project use the same execution model as the rest of Cowork. Chat conversations in a project can read the project's [memory](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#memory) but cannot add to or change it. See [Data storage and retention](#data-storage-and-retention) for where project contents are stored.
208 Yes. Chat and Cowork share one list of projects, and users can start a Chat conversation or a Cowork session inside a project. A project in Claude for Government is stored only on the user's device. There is no service-side project store, and projects are not shared between users. Cowork sessions in a project use the same execution model as the rest of Cowork. Chat conversations in a project can read the project's [memory](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage#memory). See [Data storage and retention](#data-storage-and-retention) for where project contents are stored.
209209 </Accordion>
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211211 <Accordion title="Are artifacts available in Chat?">
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213213 </Accordion>
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215215 <Accordion title="Where do files that Claude creates go?">
216 In Chat and Cowork, a file that Claude creates on the user's device is in one of three places:
216 In Chat and Cowork, Claude creates files on the user's device in places such as these:
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218218 * A folder the user attached to a Cowork task.
219219 * The working folder that each task or conversation has inside the [application data directory](#data-storage-and-retention).
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222222 Files that Claude saves in a working folder appear in the conversation as file cards that the user can open or show in Finder or File Explorer and copy from there. Code sessions work directly in the folder the user opened, as described under [Code in Claude Desktop](#code-in-claude-desktop).
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224 In Cowork, Claude's file tools change files in an attached folder in place, so the changes appear there immediately. A user who wants results in a particular folder attaches that folder to the task and asks Claude to save the files there. Shell commands run inside the sandbox virtual machine, and on the device they can write only to the attached folders and the task's working folder. A file that a command writes anywhere else in the virtual machine, for example under `/tmp`, does not appear in any folder on the device.
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226 By design, Chat cannot save files to other folders on the device. Claude's file tools in Chat, and the analysis steps that run in the sandbox when **Advanced file analysis in Chat** is on (the default), write only to the conversation's own working folder. For work that should end up in a particular folder, the user can run it as a Cowork task with that folder attached. See [Chat in Claude Desktop](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat) for what a Chat conversation can reach, and [User identity and local data](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage) for the folder layout.
224 In Cowork, Claude's file tools change files in an attached folder in place, so the changes appear there immediately. A user who wants results in a particular folder attaches that folder to the task and asks Claude to save the files there. Shell commands run inside the sandbox virtual machine, and on the device they can write only to the attached folders and the task's working folder. A file that a command writes anywhere else in the virtual machine, for example under `/tmp`, does not appear in any folder on the device. See [Chat in Claude Desktop](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/chat) for what a Chat conversation can reach, and [User identity and local data](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/data-storage) for the folder layout.
227225 </Accordion>
228226</AccordionGroup>
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